Combination lawnmower and leaf rake

ABSTRACT

A rotary lawnmower and leaf rake includes a wheeled housing with a discharge opening therein. Chute means are secured to the housing in communication with the discharge opening and support means are secured to the housing and extend upwardly and rearwardly therefrom. A carrier bag and an inner bag removably received within the carrier bag have closed rearward ends and have their forward ends surrounding the chute means and held to the chute means by means of a resilient band.

0 United States Patent [1113,574,272

[72] Inventor Ralph W. Krewson [56] References Cited pp No :3 533mWebster Groves, 63119 UNITED STATES PATENTS [22] Filed 51,1969 2,829,7344/1958 Brace 55/380 Division ofSer. No. 617,408 Feb. 20 1967. 321360010/1965 Anders 56/202 [45] Patented Apnlslgn 3,364,663 1/1968Lagerstrom..... 55/380 [54] COMBINATION LAWNMOWER AND LEAF RAKE PrimaryExaminer-A. F. Guida Attomey-Zarley, McKee & Thomte ABSTRACT: A rotarylawnmower and leaf rake includes a wheeled housing with a dischargeopening therein. Chute means are secured to the housing in communicationwith the discharge opening and support means are secured to the housingand extend upwardly and rearwardly therefrom. A carrier bag and an innerbag removably received within the carrier bag have closed rearward endsand have their forward ends surrounding the chute means and held to thechute means by means of a resilient band.

COMBINATION LAWNMOWER AND LEAF RAKE This is a divisional application ofcopending application Ser. No. 617,408 filed Feb. 20, 1967.

Conventional rotary lawnmowers are dangerous to operate in that therotating metal blade will throw foreign objects struck thereby with agreat amount of force. Also, the conventional rotary lawnmowers tend topermit the accumulation of grass cuttings within the housing whichgreatly reduces the efficiency thereof. The collection bags presentlyutilized with the rotary lawnmowers are not easily and quicklyattachable and detachable with respect to the lawnmower and also, thebag must be manually emptied of its contents inasmuch as the collectionbag is not disposable.

Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide arotary lawnmower which will not throw objects which are struckby therotating cutting blade.

A further object of this invention is to provide a rotary lawnmowerhaving means thereon adapted to cause the grass to be lifted upwardlywith respect to the rotating cutting blade.

A further object of this invention is to provide a lawnmower having achannel-shaped liner within the wheeled housing which is adapted togreatly reduce the accumulation of grass cuttings therein.

A further object of this invention is to provide a lawnmower havingdisposable blades of nylon, urethane elastomer, or similar materialpivotally secured to a supporting blade means.

A further object of this invention is to provide a lawnmower and leafrake having a cutting blade means rotatably mounted within a liner whichis positioned within the wheeled housing, the cutting blade means havinga shape complementary to that of the channel thereby reducing thepossiblity of foreign objects being thrown from the lawnmower uponcoming into contact with the rotating blade.

A further object of this invention is to provide a lawnmower having acollection bag structure which can be quickly and easily secured to anseparated from the lawnmower.

A further object of this invention is to provide a disposable collectionbag means for a lawnmower.

A further object of this invention is to provide a lawnmower which iseconomical of manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, andcombination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objectscontemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth,specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial rear perspective view of a lawnmower;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a lawnmower as would be seen online 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the cutting blade means;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the channel-shaped liner;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the cutting blade means;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the cutting blade means;

FIG. 7 is an end view of the cutting blade means;

FIG. 8 is a top view of a blade element;

FIG. 9 is an end view of the blade element of FIG. 8 as would be seen online 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a front perspective view of a lawnmower having the collectionbag means detachably secured thereto;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged sectional view as would be seen on line 1lll ofFIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a top view of the carrier bag portion of the collection bagmeans;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a fabric collection bag which is adapted to bereceived within the carrier bag of FIG. 12 at times;

FIG. 14 is a plan view of a perforated plastic bag which is adapted tobe received within the carrier bag of FIG. 12 at times;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary perspective view of the collection bagsupporting arm and the bracket which is secured to the lawnmowerhousing; and

FIG. 16 is a sectional view as would be seen on line 16-16 of FIG. 15,the broken lines indicating the position of the end of the collectionbag supporting arm when the same is received within the bracket.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the numeral 10 generally designates a rotary lawnmowerincluding a blade housing 11 supported by ground engaging wheels 13 andhaving a power means 15 secured thereto. A handle 17 is pivotallysecured to the rearward end 19 of housing 11 and housing 11 is providedwith a discharge opening 21 formed in one side thereof. As seen in FIG.2, power means 15 has a power shaft 23 rotatably extending downwardlythrough the top 25 of housing 11.

A linear 27 is detachably mounted within housing 11 by bolts 29 andincludes a central hub portion 31 and a peripheral channel portion 33extending therearound. For purposes of description, channel portion 33will be described as including an inner vertical wall 35, a horizontaltop wall 37 and a vertical outer wall 39. Wall 37 is provided with aplurality of protrusions 41 extending upwardly therefrom which areadapted to receive bolts 29 extending therethrough. As seen in FIG. 2,bolts 29 extend through wall 37 and protrusions 41 and the protrusionsserve to space wall 37 from the interior of top 25 of housing 11. Wall39 is provided with a plurality of protrusions 43 extending outwardlytherefrom which are adapted to receive bolts '29 extending therethrough.As seen in FIG. 2, bolts 29 extend through wall 39 and protrusions 43and the protrusions serve to space wall 39 from the downwardly extendingflange portion of housing 11. The lower end of wall 39 terminates belowthe plane of wall 31 and approximately in the same plane as the lowerend of the downwardly extending flange of the housing 11. As seen inFIG. 2, shaft 23 freely extends through opening 47 in wall 31 of liner27. Shaft 23 has threaded reduced diameter portion 49 provided at itslower end which is adapted to receive a nut 51.

The numeral 53 generally designates a supporting bar and is best seen inFIGS. 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7. As seen in FIG. 5, bar 53 includes a horizontalportion 55 having an opening 57 formed therein which is adapted toreceive the threaded portion 49 of shaft 23 as best illustrated in FIG.3. As seen in FIG. 2, horizontal portion 55 extends across the bottom ofthe hub portion 31. Bar 53 is provided with inverted L-shaped wings 59and 61 at the opposite ends thereof which extend upwardly from the endsof horizontal portion 55 to dwell within channel portion 33 defined bywalls 35, 37 and 39. Wing 59 includes an arcuate wall member 63 whichextends upwardly and slightly laterally with respect to horizontalportion 55 and also includes an arcuate top portion 65 extendingoutwardly from the upper end of wall 63. Wing 61 includes an arcuatewall member 67 extending upwardly and laterally from the other end ofhorizontal portion 55 and an arcuate top portion 69 extending outwardlytherefrom. The shape of wall 67 and top 69 is best illustrated in FIGS.5-7. For purposes of description, wing 59 will be described as having aleading edge 71 and a trailing edge 73 while wing 61 will be describedas having a leading edge 75 and a trailing edge 77. As shown in FIG. 6,the wings 59 and 61 are swept back with respect to the horizontalportion 55, so that the leading edges 71 and 77 of the respective wingswill trail the top and bottom edges, respectively (as viewed in FIG. 6)of the horizontal portion 55. This allows grass clippings from cuttingblades 89 and 89' (to be described hereafter) to be swept upwardly intothe airstrearn created by the wings. Wings 59 and 61 are identical inconfiguration and it can be seen in FIG. 7 that top 69 is designed sothat the trailing edge 77 is in a plane higher than that of the leadingedge 75 to create a lifting air current to pull the grass upwardly whenthe supporting bar 53 is rotated by the power means 15.

Supporting bar 53 is provided with an elongated recess portion 79 formedin the upper surface of horizontal portion 55 and is provided with anelongated protruding portion 81 extending downwardly from the bottomsurface of horizontal portion 55 which is complementary to recessportion 79. An elongated support plate 83 is positioned below supportingbar 53 and has a central opening 85 formed therein which is adapted toreceive threaded portion 49 of shaft 23 as best illustrated in FIG. 3.As seen in FIGS. 3 and 5, plate 85 is tapered so as to have a centralthickness greater than that of its respective ends. As seen in FIG. 5,the upper portion of plate 83 is provided with an elongated groove 87formed therein which is adapted to receive protruding portion 81 at thebottom of horizontal portion 55. It is the mating of protruding portion81 and groove 87 which prevents rotational movement of bar 53 and plate83 with respect to each other. As seen in FIG. 3, nut 51 securelymaintains plate 83 in engagement with the lower surface of horizontalportion 55 of bar 53.

A pair of cutting blades 89 and 89' are pivotally secured to oppositeends of horizontal portion 55 of bar 53 as indicated in the drawings.Blades 89 and 89 may be secured to the bar 53 by means of rivets or boltassemblies. It can be seen in FIG. 6 that the blades are secured to bar53 so that the leading cutting edges thereof are substantially alignedwith the edge of the horizontal portion 55 and the cutting edges areahead of the leading edges 71 and 75 of wings 89 and 89, respectively.Inasmuch as blades 89 and 89' are identical, only blade 89 will bedescribed in detail. The blade 89 is best illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9and is preferably constructed of a resilient material such as nylon,urethane elastomer, or the like. As seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, blade 89includes a body portion 91 and a cutting portion 93. Cutting portion 93is comprised of a plurality of angularly disposed ribs 95. Blade 89 isprovided with a cutting edge 97 on the forwardmost rib 95 as bestillustrated in FIG. 9. Preferably, the thickness of the extreme end ofbody portion 91 is three-sixteenths of an inch while the thickness atthe other end of the cutting blade is preferably one-eighth of an inch.

In operation, power means is activated to cause the rotation of shaft 23which causes the rotation of bar 53, blades 89 and 89', and bar 85 in aclockwise direction as viewed in FIGS. 5 and 6. The wings 59 and 61 arearcuate in shape as previously described and their role function is tocreate a lifting air current to pull the grass and the grass clippingsupwardly. It should be noted that the general shape of bar 53 iscomplementary to the lower cross-sectional shape of the liner 27, andthe purpose of this complementary shape is to prevent the bar fromhaving an opportunity to obtain good leverage on any object that itmight hit. For example, it would be doubtful that a tin can having aheight sufficient to reach the top of the channel 33 would ever beencountered, but if this were the case, the tin can would be struck atits upper end which would impart less velocity to the tin can than if itwere hit at its midsection. It would be impossible for a tin can to behit by the horizontal portion 55 of bar 53, and any foreign objecthaving a reduced clearance sufiicient to engage the horizontal portion55 of the bar 53 (such as a walnut or the like) would be struck at itstop in the manner described above thereby imparting less velocity tosuch object. It can be appreciated that a close complementary conditionof the hub portion 31 with respect to the horizontal portion 55 doesprevent the horizontal portion 55 from striking a foreign object at anyposition other than the extreme upper portion thereof. Because the wings59 and 61 are substantially elevated from the ground surface, thesuction or lift" created thereby are less likely to pick up small piecesof gravel or the like than if the wings were at the lower elevation ofcutting blades 89 and 89.

The nylon cutting blades are disposable and the configuration of theangularly disposed ribs 95 will always present a substantially sharpleading cutting edge 97 regardless of the wear thereupon. Thisrelationship can perhaps be best visualized in FIG. 9 wherein it can beseen that the cutting edge 97 will continue to wear to the right asviewed in FIG. 9 thereby providing a substantially sharp leading cuttingedge. Additionally, the resilient construction of the blades 89 and 89'causes the blades to have less mass than a blade of equal size and shapeconstructed of other material, whereupon it imposes less centrifugalforce to any object that is struck. In addition, the resilient bladesdeflect more easily than would a metal blade, so that some of the impactof foreign objects being struck thereby is absorbed by the blade, andthis reduces the impact imposed on the foreign objects struck. Theblades are heavy enough and stiff enough only to cut grass, and willyield and deflect when more solid objects are encountered.

Preferably, the liner 27 is constructed of a flexible polyethylenematerial which greatly reduces the tendency of grass cuttings toaccumulate thereon. The waxy material of the polyethylene liner alsotends to prevent the accumulation of grass cuttings thereon.Additionally, the protrusions 41 and 43 cause a direct contact to beestablished with the housing 11 of the mower but the top and sidewallsof the liner will be held in substantial equal relation to the housing.Housing 11 will cause liner 27 to vibrate during the operation thereofand this vibration also tends to prevent grass cuttings from stickingthereto.

In FIG. 10, the numeral designates a rotary lawnmower including a bladehousing 102 supported by ground-engaging wheels 104 and powered by apower means 106. For purposes of description, housing 102 will bedescribed as having a forward end 108, a top and a discharge side 112. Adischarge chute 114 is detachably secured to housing 102 at dischargeside 112 so as to enclose the discharge opening formed in the housing102 at discharge side 112. As seen in FIG. 10, chute 114 extendsoutwardly, rearwardly and upwardly with respect to the housing. Therearward end of chute 114 is substantially square in cross section butcould be round if desired. As seen in FIG. 11, the rearward end of chute114 is provided with a pair of peripheral ridges 116 having a peripheralgroove 120 formed therebetween.

The numeral 122 generally designated a U-shaped bracket which isdetachably secured to top 110 of housing 102 by means of bolts 124 and126 (FIG. 16). Bracket 122 includes a base portion 128 and oppositeupstanding sides 130 and 132. As seen in FIG. 15, sides 130 and 132 areprovided with slots 134 and 136 formed therein. As seen in the drawings,slots 134 and 136 are shaped so as to define shoulder portions 138 and140. An angular slide 142 comprised of a horizontal portion 144 and avertical portion 146 is slidably mounted on base portion 128 by means ofbolt 124 extending through elongated slot 148 in horizontal portion 144.The numeral 150 designates an elongated slot 148 in horizontal portion144. The numeral 150 designates an elongated bag supporting arm having apin means 152 extending through its forward end and protruding fromopposite sides thereof. Arm 150 is detachably connected to bracket 122by simply inserting the end of arm 150 between sides 130 and 132 so thatthe protruding ends of pin 152 is received in slots 134 and 136respectively. Arm 150 is moved until pin 152 is in the extreme upperends of slots 134 and 136 so that shoulders 138 and are rearwardly ofthe pin as illustrated in FIG. 16. Slide 142 maintains pin 152 in slots134 and 136 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 16 due to the engagementof the upper end of vertical portion 146 and arm 150. Thus, arm tends topivot about the upper end of vertical portion 146 thereby causing pin152 to maintain pin 152 within slots 134 and 136. The angle .of arm 150with respect to the lawnmower may be varied by simply sliding slide 142either towards or away from slots 134 and 136 which will necessarilychange the point of contact between arm 150 and the upper end ofvertical portion 146.

The numeral 154 designates a carrier bag having a closed rearward end156 and an open forward end 158. Bag 154 is constructed of a fabricmaterial and has an insert 160 provided therein which is of a net orloosely woven construction. It can be seen in FIGS. 10 and 12 thatinsert 160 is provided with an opening i162 formed therein which extendsrearwardly from the open end of the carrier bag. A circular elastic band164 is sewn into the bag 154 adjacent its open end as best seen in FIG.11. Bag 154 is provided with a loop 166 at its rearward end which isadapted to extend over the upper end of arm 150 and is limited in itsdownward movement with respect thereto by pin 168 in arm 150. Bag 154 isdetachably mounted on the rearward end of chute 114 with elastic 164being recieved within groove 120.

The bag 154 is adapted to receive either the bag 170 which is seen inFIG. 13 or the bag 172 which is seen in FIG. 14. Bag 170 is constructedof a fabric material such as muslin or the like and has its rearward end174 sealed by sewing or the like. The forward end 176 of bag 70 is openand is adapted to be mounted on the rearward end of chute 114 at times.Bag 172 is of plastic construction and is provided with a plurality ofperforations 178 formed therein. The rearward end 180 of bag 172 issealed by any convenient means and the forward end 182 is open and isadapted to embrace the rearward end of chute 114 at times. Bag 172 isdesigned to be disposable and would be relatively inexpensive tomanufacture.

The bag 154 is nonnally mounted on the mower as shown in FIGS. and 11,and the bags 170 or 172 are inserted into or removed from bag 154without removing bag 154 from the mower. Bags 170 and 172 are positionedwithin bag 154 in identical fashion.

To install bag 170 within bag 154, elastic band 164 and the lower end ofbag 154 are moved out of groove 120 and downwardly onto the chute 114,(moved to the right, as viewed in FIG. 11). The open end 176 of bag 170is then positioned over the groove 120 of chute 114, and the body of thebag 170 is stuffed into bag 154 through the opening 162 therein. Theopen end 176 of bag 170 is then held tightly in groove 120 with onehand, and the other hand is used to reposition the elastic band 164 andthe lower end of bag 154 over the open end 176 of bag 170. As theelastic band 164 again tightens in groove 120, the open end 176 of bag170, which is inside elastic band 164, is tightly held in groove 120 andis thus secured to the chute 114. This operation involves only a fewseconds, and it can be accomplished when the mower is running, whereinthe air exhaust from chute 114 serves to inflate" bag 170. The bag 170is removed by reversing the above-described operation.

The relationship of the carrier bag 154 may be changed with respect tothe lawnmower by simply varying the angle of repose of the arm 150 aspreviously described. Ann 150 may be disengaged from bracket 122 toconveniently rotate the insertion or removal of the inner bag withincarrier bag 154 by simply causing pin 152 to be disengaged from slots134 and 136. This disengagement may be accomplished by first loweringthe forward end of arm 150 and then removing the same rearwardly out ofslots 134 or pin 136 or slide 142may be moved rearwardly to cause thepin 152 to drop from behind shoulders 138 and 140.

In operation, bag 170 may be used if desired and the grass cuttings willbe discharged thereinto from chute 114. The loose knitted constructionof the fabric bag 170 permits the air being blown thereinto by the mowerto escape there from and outwardly through the insert portion 160 andthe open portion 152 of bag 154. When bag 170 is full, the bag is simplyremoved from within bag 154 and emptied and subsequently reinstalledwithin bag 154 as previously described. As previously stated, bag 170 isdisposable and may be discarded upon being filled with the grasscutting. The perforations 178 in the bag 172 permit the air being blownthereinto to escape therefrom.

The device of this invention can be used as an air rake for windrow overlaterally and add to the windrow-any additional leaves that are betweenthe mower and the windrow.

Thus, the collection bag structure illustrated in FIGS. 10, 11, 12 12and 14 provides for a unique but simple bag construction which permitsthe grass cuttings to be conveniently gathered and disposed of.Additionally, the twobag construction of the collection bag alsosubstantially eliminates the possiblity of a foreign object beingejected through the collection bag.

Thus, it can be seen that the invention accomplishes at least all of itsstated objectives.

1 claim:

1. In combination:

A rotary lawn mower having a wheeled housing with the discharge openingtherein;

chute means secured to said housing and having an open forward end incommunication with said discharge opening and having an open rearwardend;

support means secured to said housing and extending rearwardlytherefrom;

a carrier bag having rearward and forward ends, said forward end of saidcarrier bag being open and surrounding said open rearward end 'of saidchute means;

an inner bag removably received within said carrier bag, said inner baghaving closed rearward end' and an open end, said forward end of saidinner bag surrounding said rearward end of said chute means and beingsurrounded by said forward end of said carrier bag; and

resilient means connected to said forward end of said carrier bag, saidresilient means surrounding said forwardend of said inner bag fordetachably securing said carrier bag and said inner bag to said chutemeans.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said inner bag is comprised of adisposable plastic material having a plurality of perforations formedtherein.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said chute means has a peripheralgroove formed therein at its rearward end adapted to receive saidresilient means therein.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said carrier bag has a fabric bodyportion and an insert member provided therein, said insert member beingof a loosely knit construction to permit air to be dischargedtherethrough from the interior of said carrier bag.

5. The combination of claim 1' wherein said carrier bag has an openingformed therein along its length to permit said inner bag to be insertedtherethrough.

6. The combination of claim 1 wherein said support means comprises:

a bracket secured to the top surface of said housing and having oppositeends;

said bracket including a horizontal base portion and opposite sidewallsextending upwardly therefrom:

each of said sidewalls having an inclined slot formed therein andextending thereinto intermediate their ends, each of said sidewallshaving a substantially vertical slot formed therein extending upwardlyfrom the inner ends of said inclined slots;

an arm member having first and second pin members extending laterallytherefrom adjacent one end thereof, said first and second pin membersbeing adapted to be slidably received by said inclined slots to permitsaid pin members to be pivotally mounted in said vertical slots attimes; and

slide member slidably mounted on said base portion and having a verticalportion adapted to selectively engage said arm member to limit thepivotal movement of said arm member in one direction, the engagement ofsaid.

slide member and said arm member causing said pin members to bemaintained in said vertical slots.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein:

said arm member being removable from said bracket by pivoting said armmember with respect to said bracket to permit said pin members todisengage from said slots; and

to decrease the angle of repose of said arm member with respect to saidhousing.

1. In combination: A rotary lawn mower having a wheeled housing with thedischarge opening therein; chute means secured to said housing andhaving an open forward end in communication with said discharge openingand having an open rearward end; support means secured to said housingand extending rearwardly therefrom; a carrier bag having rearward andforward ends, said forward end of said carrier bag being open andsurrounding said open rearward end of said chute means; an inner bagremovably received within said carrier bag, said inner bag having closedrearward end and an open end, said forward end of said inner bagsurrounding said rearward end of said chute means and being surroundedby said forward end of said carrier bag; and resilient means connectedto said forward end of said carrier bag, said resilient meanssurrounding said forward end of said inner bag for detachably securingsaid carrier bag and said inner bag to said chute means.
 2. Thecombination of claim 1 wherein said inner bag is comprised of adisposable plastic material having a plurality of perforations formedtherein.
 3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said chute means has aperipheral groove formed therein at its rearward end adapted to receivesaid resilient means therein.
 4. The combination of claim 1 wherein saidcarrier bag has a fabric body portion and an insert member providedtherein, said insert member being of a loosely knit construction topermit Air to be discharged therethrough from the interior of saidcarrier bag.
 5. The combination of claim 1 wherein said carrier bag hasan opening formed therein along its length to permit said inner bag tobe inserted therethrough.
 6. The combination of claim 1 wherein saidsupport means comprises: a bracket secured to the top surface of saidhousing and having opposite ends; said bracket including a horizontalbase portion and opposite sidewalls extending upwardly therefrom: eachof said sidewalls having an inclined slot formed therein and extendingthereinto intermediate their ends, each of said sidewalls having asubstantially vertical slot formed therein extending upwardly from theinner ends of said inclined slots; an arm member having first and secondpin members extending laterally therefrom adjacent one end thereof, saidfirst and second pin members being adapted to be slidably received bysaid inclined slots to permit said pin members to be pivotally mountedin said vertical slots at times; and slide member slidably mounted onsaid base portion and having a vertical portion adapted to selectivelyengage said arm member to limit the pivotal movement of said arm memberin one direction, the engagement of said slide member and said armmember causing said pin members to be maintained in said vertical slots.7. The combination of claim 6 wherein: said arm member being removablefrom said bracket by pivoting said arm member with respect to saidbracket to permit said pin members to disengage from said slots; andsaid slide member being movable towards said slots to increase the angleof repose of said arm member with respect to said housing and movableaway from said slots to decrease the angle of repose of said arm memberwith respect to said housing.